Knowing When to Self-Eat : Fine-Tuning Autophagy Through ATG8 Iso-forms in Plants

Abstract

Autophagy is a catabolic process that takes place under both normal and adverseconditions and is important for the degradation of various organelles and proteins thatare no longer needed. Thus, it can be viewed as both a constitutive recycling machineryand an adaptation mechanism. Increase in the activity of autophagy can be caused bymultiple biotic and abiotic stress factors. Though intensive research in the past decadehas elucidated many molecular details of plant autophagy, the mechanisms of inductionand regulation of the process remain understudied. Here, we discuss the role of ATG8 proteins in autophagic signaling and regulation with an emphasis on the significance of ATG8 diversification for adapting autophagy to the changing needs of plants.